All content, of both the original Brookfield7.com and this blog, is written from my point of view and is my opinion. I believe it to be accurate at the time it is written. ~ Kyle Prast, Brookfield resident since 1986

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

An Open Letter to Governor Scott Walker: No Obamacare Exchange

An Open Letter to Governor Scott Walker

Hand delivered, November 12th, 2012

Governor Walker:

Last January, Wisconsinites cheered when you sent back to the federal government a $38 million Early Innovator Grant that had bound the State of Wisconsin to establish an Obamacare exchange, along with an additional $11 million intended for integration of the state’s Medicaid system into that planned exchange.

We weren’t the only ones.

You earned the respect and gratitude of citizens across the United States and garnered the status of national hero for your principled courage in telling the Federal Department of Health and Human Services that Wisconsin would not move ahead with an exchange that compromised, in numerous respects, our state and its people. It made us want to fight that much harder to get you through the recall debacle and keep you in office.

Moreover, your actions provided valuable impetus to other state governments in standing against federal overreach, protecting their own sovereignty, and continuing to guarantee the liberty of their own citizens. Unquestionably, our nation would be far better off had the states not forgotten these clear duties for so long. Fortunately, with the help of leaders such as yourself, they have started to remember them.

Today, in the struggle against Obamacare, we have reached an even more critical juncture than that of last January. Wisconsin must remain in the vanguard of states declaring “NO!” and moving toward nullification.

The numbers alone demonstrate that there is no good reason to comply. The unfunded liabilities that an Obamacare exchange would force Wisconsin to absorb – estimated between $70 and $100 million dollars per year for our state – along with the costs to business, together quickly cancel out any and all of the gains you have thus far achieved via Act 10 and other economic steps taken over the past two years. The blow to businesses and families would be devastating in an already bleak economy.

Worse still, it would obliterate the constitutional liberties that you, as governor, are sworn to uphold and defend. If the sovereignty of the State of Wisconsin is sacrificed, the personal liberty of every single one of its citizens will likewise disappear. Such an outcome is unthinkable. It must not be permitted.

Wisconsin must stand.

As a significant and highly active portion of your base, we have defended you tirelessly through all of the battles of the last year and a half. We also came to the aid of legislators who stood with you on Act 10. We have done right by you. We now urge you to once again do right by us.

You are unquestionably being pressured by powerful lobbying firms and by the federal government alike as you make this decision. Undoubtedly, you face great temptation to take the path of least resistance. This is the moment of truth. What will you do?

The sovereignty of this state and the personal liberty of every single Wisconsinite is at stake – including the lives of the unborn, on whose behalf you have, to date, always advocated. No other considerations can compare to life and liberty.

As noted, a yes to Obamacare is not an option. We will not accept it. We are therefore waiting for you to issue an unequivocal, “NO!” When you do, we expect all Republican state legislators to stand with you, as will we.